Bridge Renovations to Start in December

The City Department of Transportation (DOT) is getting ready to renovate the Roosevelt Island Bridge, starting in December.

At an informational meeting Wednesday night, the Project Manager, Ray G. Girgis, said the project is expected to take three years and cost $53 million. It involves replacing the mechanical and electrical systems, each of which had been responsible for some incidents in which the bridge, raised for a test or east-channel boat traffic, would not descend. The bridge will also be painted a deeper red than the original color of the paint now fading on the steelwork.

The bridge will acquire a pedestrian safety fence but, otherwise, look much the same as it does today. The towers, once slated for removal before 9/11 made east-channel navigation a necessity for United Nations security, will remain in place. Lead paint will go away and the roadway will be replaced. The fenders that protect the bridge piers from river debris will also be replaced.

The project had been slated for 2012 until former Residents Association President Matthew Katz arranged for a Community Board 8 resolution urging that the work be moved up because of the importance of the bridge to Roosevelt Islanders, who depend on it for all vehicular access, including emergency equipment.

Key provisions of the contract for the work will prohibit roadway work during rush-hour periods (6:00-10:00 a.m. and 3:00-8:00 p.m.), and keep delays to a maximum of five minutes. One lane of the bridge will always be open, said Girgis, with flag signalers controling the direction of traffic. During the work, parking in the roadway area below the ramp will be eliminated on the side of the roadway closest to the bridge.